Jason Charles Gourlay was arrested by Mounties on March 3, 2017,and charged with failing to stop an an accident scene and possession of heroin, the latter charge stemming from drugs allegedly found in his Dufferin home. Image: KTW/Facebook photo

B.C. man to plead guilty in connection with hit-and-run that killed teen

Jason Gourlay charged with failure to stop at the scene of accident, attempting to obstruct justice

Gourlay did not appear in Kamloops Law Courts on Friday afternoon — after appearing in the morning — but his lawyer, Jeremy Jensen, and Crown prosecutor Neil Flanagan told court they have reached an agreement for Gourlay to plead guilty, a date for which will be set on March 26.

Gourlay, 43, is charged with failure to stop at the scene of an accident and attempting to obstruct justice, though it remains to be seen to which charge or charges he will plead guilty. The maximum sentence for failure to stop at the scene of an accident when a death is involved is life in prison.

Jennifer Gatey was struck and killed alongside Pacific Way on Nov. 4, 2016, while waiting for a bus. The 16-year-old lived with her family in a home less than a block away from the bus stop. She was killed a day before her 17th birthday.

The driver of the vehicle that struck her did not stop and drove away. Police soon released video from a home-surveillance system in the area showing what appeared to be a dark-coloured Jeep-style vehicle in the area at about the time Gatey was killed.

During the next two days, Nov. 5 and Nov. 6, 2016, police received a tip and descended on a home in Dufferin, across Highway 1 from Aberdeen. There, police strung yellow tape around the yard and covered the front half of a black Jeep with a tarp as they examined the vehicle. There was what appeared to minor damage to the driver’s side front end of the vehicle.